Tag: DC

If you live in Northern Virginia or have gone there for open captioned movies, we have big news! One of our organizers, Jamie Berke, has successfully petitioned two independent movie theaters in Fairfax, VA to have monthly open captioned movie screenings. The theaters are Cinema Arts Theatre and University Mall Theatres. They will have OC screenings one Sunday each month for all movies that screen at around 7pm. So for this month, on January 14, this is what each theater is showing:

Saturday, MAY 5th, 2018 Change in date and venue!

Springfield Town Center (formerly Springfield Mall)
on Saturday, May 5th.

Celebrate Communication is the area's premier information fair for anyone with an interest in or connection to hearing loss.

Last year we had over 40 vendors will be offering free information on a wide variety of resources including State and local government programs, cutting edge technology for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, ASL and Cued Speech, hearing dogs, and many more.

Celebrate communication will be held on Saturday May 5th at the Springfield Town Center.

WASHINGTON — Police departments across the country have recently put extra emphasis on their community policing efforts, working to improve relations with the black community and other minority groups.

In the same way, in Washington, a special Metropolitan Police Department unit has been working for more than a decade to build trust with another local community.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing Liaison Unit is the only such unit in the country. The unit’s two officers — Myra Jordan and Tayna Ellis — both learned sign language outside MPD.

“We are on call 24 hours, seven days a week,” said Ellis.

“And it’s not work to us because it’s something we truly, truly enjoy doing,” Jordan said.

Jordan helped create the unit nearly 15 years ago. Since then, it’s become a major resource for the local deaf community.

Last year alone, the unit responded to more than 300 calls for service.

Shayninna McCoy, a specialist with the local advocacy group Deaf Reach, said, “The deaf community feels confident that their communication will be understood by the police.”

The Washington region is said to be home to the highest concentration of deaf people in the world. Many attend Gallaudet University then stay here for their careers.

People with hearing loss often need help in determining how best to address their needs. Hearing aids can be very helpful. But they come with a wide variety of optional features including, but not limited to, telecoils, directional microphones, noise suppression, feedback cancellation, Bluetooth, self-adjusting volume controls, etc. Which ones do you need? And then what other technologies and personal strategies should you consider, recognizing that even well-fitted, top of the line, hearing aids, while very useful, have important limitations? Finding the right answer for yourself involves both reflection and advice from the professionals -- a personal hearing needs assessment. Come hear Dr. Larry Medwetsky address this important topic.

Happy New Year! I wanted to share this survey about open captioned movies for the Washington, DC area during January-March 2016. Please take a few minutes now and pick the movies you want to see with open captions in the next few months! DC Deaf Moviegoers ( Eric Nordlof )

Hearing aids and cochlear implants help a lot. So too do assistive listening devices. But those of us with hearing loss quickly come to recognize that technology alone doesn’t provide all that we need to successfully and comfortably communicate with friends, family, and colleagues. We need to also develop our own strategies for enhancing our understanding and participation in dialogue in social and professional settings. At this holiday season, with its parties and family get-togethers this is especially important.

Come share with us what works for you (and what doesn’t). Bring along your spouse, significant others, close friends as they too are an important part of a successful communications strategy. This will be a dialogue. We have much to learn from each other.

When William Pierce, who is profoundly deaf, arrived at CTF to be taken into custody, prison officials took no steps whatsoever to evaluate his need for accommodation so that he would be able to have meaningful access to prison programs and services within the prison facility. They knew he was deaf, but instead of ascertaining what accommodations would be necessary for Pierce to communicate effectively in prison, they assumedthat he could lipread and read the notes they wrote to him, even after he specifically requested an ASL interpreter. The District insisted that the employees’ conduct with respect to accommodating Pierce’s deafness was entirely consistent with the law. But the Court easily concluded that the District’s actions fell far short of what the law requires. For details of the Courts Opinion and its outcome, see : https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2013cv0134-90

ASL Video TourWe now have a free self-guided ASL video tour available for use in the galleries! The Director’s Tour (West Building highlights) has been interpreted into 27 ASL videos. Stop by the Acoustiguide desk just inside the Mall entrance on Madison Avenue to check out an Acoustiguide device and receive written instructions on accessing the tour.

Assistive Listening Devices AvailableALDs are available for use on any public tour with three weeks’ advance notice if possible. To view a full listing of tours visit www.nga.govand click on the “Calendar” tab near the upper right corner. Then contact Lorena Baines at access@nga.gov or 202-842-6905 to arrange the use of ALDs.

The ReelAbilities: Greater DC team is growing! Dan Kirsch, JCCNV Cultural Arts Director, and Brittanie Werbel, JCCNV Film Coordinator are now working with me and the ReelAbilities committee to expand our influence to the broader film and arts communities. Sponsorship and partnership opportunities are now available - whether for the entire festival or a single screening, your gift grows the possibilities of ReelAbilities and helps support the special needs community! Contact me, Dan or Brittanie for assistance.

The Hearing Loss Association of America’s annual Walk4Hearing on Saturday, October 25 was definitely the best I’ve ever participated in. The weather was great, the turnout was awesome, and the camaraderie was terrific. I walked from beginning to end in good company with Kay Ellis and Diane Preece, got to chat a bit with NVRC Board member Eileen McCartin, and relished having the super PAH! team alongside Team NVRC for much of our walk.

Katherine Pawlowski, who lives in Fairfax County is an ambassador for the Walk4Hearing. She also has a team “Friends of Fairfax County” which has raised money, some of which was is being shared with NVRC to provide services and events for children with hearing loss in the Fairfax County schools.

Team NVRC is very thankful for the generous walk donors who helped us raise $825, some of which will go to support HLAA’s work and the rest to support NVRC’s programs and services.

My hat is off to the walk chairs, Ronnie Adler and Tony Bartoli. When setting up Team NVRC, they were quick to answer my questions about the walk and its website by email, and always helpful.

ENJOY THE GREEN FESTIVAL!

Washington, DC – Saturday Sept. 21 & Sunday Sept. 22

***On-Site ASL/English Interpreters & CDI will be provided at the ASL booth, near registration. First Come, First Serve. Need to see a speaker in a small stage presentation? Just let Deanna know in advance. CDI for Deaf-Blind & Close Vision, contact Deanna Tilden in advance as possible at dtilden@greenamerica.org.

Green Festival®, a joint project of Green America®, Global Exchange and Messe-Stuttgart. We are celebrating what’s working in our communities – for people, business and the environment. Join us at the nation’s premier sustainability event in DC for 2 days filled with the best in green! Great for all ages! http://read.uberflip.com/i/165792.

It’s fun, educational activities. Come and learn resources to support our environment, people and the planet.

Distributed 2013 by Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (NVRC), 3951 Pender Drive, Suite 130, Fairfax, VA 22030; www.nvrc.org; 703-352-9055 V, 703-352-9056 TTY, 703-352-9058 Fax. Items in this newsletter are provided for information purposes only; NVRC does not endorse products or services. You do not need permission to share this information, but please be sure to credit NVRC. This news service is free of charge, but donations are greatly appreciated.

ASL and English Interpreters Provided!

Green Festival® DC – Sept. 21 & 22, 2013

***On-Site ASL/English Interpreters will be provided at the ASL booth, near registration. First Come, First Serve. Need to see a speaker in a small stage presentation? Contact Deanna Tilden in advance at dtilden@greenamerica.org.

Green Festival® is a joint project of Green America®, Global Exchange and Messe Suttgart. We are celebrating what’s working in our communities – for people, business and the environment. Join us at the nation’s premier sustainability event in DC for 2 days filled with the best in green! Great for all ages!

Welcome Interpreters!

This page is dedicated to all of you who provide services to the Northern Virginia deaf and hard of hearing community. We are fortunate to have two local professional organizations, Potomac Chapter RID and Virginia RID. Both of these organizations offer workshops, discussions and local conferences. Click on their logos on the right to see what awesome work each organization is doing! Additionally, we are lucky to have the national organization, RID, located in Old Town Alexandria. To visit their website, click on their logo:

NVRC eNews provides news and
community announcements on variety of topics related to deaf and hard of hearing people and their families, friends, co-workers, employers, business and government agencies that serve deaf and hard of hearing people.

(Includes announcements for Open Caption Movies and Metro Washington, DC community events) eNews-Archives